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French MOOC: Open Course for English Speakers Learning French (2014)

Update

You can now view the list of French speakers who signed up for the partner English course. They also have a list of you as well. There weren't many French speakers who signed up, so I compiled a second list of French speakers who expressed an interest in serious exchanges for the month of July. Combined, the two lists equal the sign ups for this course.

Once you have enough partners, you can remove yourself from the list and profile search, by clicking your user tab, Edit, then Main Profile. There's a checkbox at the bottom. Just remember to uncheck it again in the future when you search for partners.

Visit the links below to find partners. I'd suggest contacting at least two or three, more if you'd like to meet more often than once a week.

This is an open and free course for any native English speaker looking to improve their French. These open, free, and non-credit courses are often referred to as MOOCs. Most MOOCs are based on videos of lectures, multiple choice quizzes, and a discussion board. However, since this course is for language learning and it's the Mixxer, the course is focused instead on open and free language resources along with exchanges with native speakers via Skype.

What are the lessons?

The course includes French lessons based on the free and open textbook "Français interactif" which you can access via the "Lessons" link in the top menu. Each lesson includes an introduction to new grammar or vocabulary along with listening exercises. They also each include a an activity for a language exchange with your partner. After the exchange you are asked to practice your writing by posting to the blog.

Language partner?

There is also an English course for French speakers that will take place at the same time. They will have similar activities with different topics taken from sites for learning English. You can find a language partner as always using the Mixxer, but to make things easier you will be able to see a list of learners from the other course whom you can contact.

The End

The course doesn't have an end date. The lessons will remain available and once you've seen how to integrate content from the textbook into language exchanges, you'll be able to continue with the textbook or other sources for French grammar and content on the web on your own.

Some MOOCs offer certificates for the completion of the course. Since there is no end to the course, there will not be a certificate. However, if you like at the end of each lesson there is a link with which you can request that your partner "confirms" an exchange. These confirmations will then appear on your profile page.

I would also recommend that you try taking an French placement test before the course. You can take a placement testhere. It requires a login, but it's free and doesn't even require you to enter an email address. I'd also recommend sending the score to yourself when you've finished the test so you can compare at the end of the course.

For those taking the course, I only ask that you fill out a short survey at the beginning and end of the course to record your progress and gather opinions about the lessons.